The Book
by RobSp1derp1g
Summary: Ash has been mysteriously getting up in the middle of the night and disappearing with a book. What is he hiding? Oneshot. AmourShipping.


**Hey, guys. I wrote a little oneshot and I think you guys would like it.**

**Here it goes!**

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Camping. Every journeying trainer has done it, at least once. Some like it, some don't, but all of them have done it. Those who haven't, they will.

Four people are about to leave the makeshift campsite they put up for the night. The sunlight was fading and they decided to call it a day. They set up two tents. The boys would share one, and the girls would do so as well.

After dinner, the girls started playing with their Pokémon, but since the youngest girl didn't have any, due to not being old enough, she played with her brother's Dedenne. The same boy who prepared dinner, cleaned the table and went to sleep, as did the girls some time later. A black-haired young man went to bed, but not to sleep, though. As soon as he was sure his roommate was asleep, he dug into his backpack, and took out a book. Then a flashlight, borrowed from his friend a few days earlier.

Then he proceeded to walk out of the tent, moving ever so slowly, as not to awake anybody. His Pikachu heard him, though.

"Pika pi?" The Pokémon questioned.

The boy looked at his Pokémon and apologized. He then lifted his left hand, which contained the aforementioned book, and replied.

"Go back to sleep, buddy. You know what I'm going to do."

The Pokémon nodded and turned to the side, complying with his trainer.

The boy looked around, and saw the tree he had observed earlier. Clearly he had done this in the past. This tree was a bit close to the tents for his liking. What if someone woke up and saw what he was doing? What if it was the young child who saw him? He wasn't doing anything she shouldn't. He was just exploring, nothing else. He had the help of a book, which was aiding him, and giving him knowledge he could use in the future. He _would_ use in the future. But despite his own objections, he sat by the tree that was closest to the tents. To keep a watchful eye on the tents, should any danger arrive.

He then opened his book as he said "Where were we, last night?", as the image of a girl appeared in one of the books pages. He had found out about this a few weeks earlier, and it intrigued him like few things ever did. _What does it mean?,_ was his most common state of mind when he thought about that subject.

The previous week, he separated himself from the group while they were staying at a Pokémon Center. He went to a little shop that sold books, magazines and other items like that. He was so embarrassed by what he was about to ask the woman in the shop. As soon as he told her what it was, the woman smiled and reassured him there was nothing to be embarrassed about. She pointed towards a book in her computer, and said to the boy, "This will teach you not all, but most of that you need to know." He bought the book, paid for it and returned to the Pokémon Center.

The same day, or rather, night, he made sure everyone was asleep and took out his book and headed to the bathroom, where he knew he'd be alone. He even locked the door, to make sure he wouldn't be interrupted.

He opened the book, and although he didn't know much of what was in it, he tried his best to understand… He found it outside of his interests, but he _knew_ he had to learn more of this. So he unlocked the door to the bathroom, moved stealthily like a Meowth into the bedroom and opened his backpack. He took out a pen. He moved back into the bathroom, locked the door behind him, wrote something on the first page and absorbed some of the information within.

Fast forward to last night. The same boy was sitting on the ground, his back against a tree, looking at his book, taking in the information within. He was so focused; he didn't hear anything, except the rustling of the trees, until someone spoke.

"Why are you awake, Ash?" The voice inquired. "It must be 3 A.M. You should sleep!"

Ash jerked at the sudden lack of silence. He recognized the voice, although it sounded groggy and sleepy, and with the hope she wouldn't notice, hid the book behind his back.

"I-I could ask you the same, Serena…" He replied. He wanted her to go back to sleep, just so he could keep reading his book.

"I came outside just to drink some water. I'm going back to bed, and so should you." She advised.

The boy knew she was right. If he refused to go, she'd pick up on something and probably jeopardize all of the effort he's put into this so far.

"Okay, I'm going. Just one more minute…" He conceded.

The girl walked back into her tent, and the boy breathed a sigh of relief. What would she do if she found out about what he did at night? Laugh at him? Nah, that's not really her style. Probably become embarrassed. Yep, most likely that.

There were just so many scenarios in his head he couldn't focus anymore, so he followed the girl's advice and went to bed.

Fast forward to now.

They have all had their breakfast, packed everything and were ready to go.

The winds that were soft the night before had started to pick up about half an hour ago, and everyone hung on to their belongings, to make sure they didn't fly away. The oldest of the girls wasn't fast enough, though. A gust of wind launched her pink hat towards the trees where the black-haired boy had been the night before. The girl chased after her hat, her honey blonde hair swayed in the wind.

When he realized where the hat was headed, he froze. He replayed the events of last night in his mind, and it dawned on him, he never put his book safe in his backpack… Maybe she wouldn't notice the book, but he wanted to play it safe. He removed his hand from his hat, causing it to be taken away by the wind. Pikachu climbed down to the little girl's arms, seemingly aware of what was going to take place.

The older girl moved towards the hat, which had landed on its side a few feet away from the tree. She then saw a book where the boy was last night. Picked the hat up and put it in her backpack, not to escape again. She proceeded to pick it up and read the cover.

Ash knew that was it. There was no turning back. His brain locked into "excuses mode", and prepared the classic "It's not mine. I'm just holding it for a friend."

Serena smiled at Ash, and looked back at the book. "Is this yours, Ash?"

"Yes, it is. There's no point in hiding it anymore." Ash confessed.

"But why would you hide this from me? I could have helped you with this." Serena stated.

"Read the first page." Ash requested.

Serena complied and flipped the book to its first page. As soon as she read it, the biggest smile he ever saw filled her lips.

On the first page of the book, an inscription read "French: La Langue de l'Amour - Japanese – French Dictionary." Below those words, after the publisher's logo, a piece of handwritten text stated "You're doing this for Serena. Remember that."

Ash had to confess. "I heard you speak French the other day. I was intrigued by what you said. So I bought it to learn. And I wanted to surprise you someday, when I could master enough words to say a fully coherent sentence…"

Serena's emotions were on overload. She approached Ash, smiling. And then she embraced him.

The two siblings, who were watching the events unfold from afar, stood amazed at the sight. While the little girl cheered for her friends, her big brother fixed his glasses and said to himself, "I don't know what he has been doing, but I think it paid off…"

Serena whispered in Ash's ear, "Merci pour cette surprise. Je l'ai adoré. Presque autant que je t'aime."

"What was that?" Ash questioned.

Serena extended her hand for Ash to hold. "You'll learn, and I'll help you."

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**Did you like it? Let me know!**


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